Putting pressure on the Bulls throughout the grand prix, Hamilton never allowed pole sitter Mark Webber to pull away from him. However, a small problem with his tyres in his pit stop meant he lost out to Sebastian Vettel, dropping to third. But instead of falling away as some believed would happen, Hamilton kept hounding the Bulls, putting the pressure on Vettel. And it was perhaps that pressure - as well as that of having lost out to Webber for the past two races - that prompted Vettel to launch an opportunistic attack on his team-mate for the lead.
It was a move that resulted in tears as Vettel crashed into Webber, putting himself out the grand prix and Webber into the pits for repairs. Red Bull's woes were McLaren's joys as Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button took control of the race.
However, McLaren almost had tears of their own as Button fought Hamilton for the lead, getting ahead of his team-mate and resulting in a small rubbing of paint for the two Brits. Hamilton fought back to take the lead from Button and never looked back, claiming his first victory of the season.
A disappointed Webber was third ahead of Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso finished Ferrari's 800th grand prix in seventh and eighth places.
Results:
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h28:47.620
2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.645
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 24.285
4. Schumacher Mercedes + 31.110
5. Rosberg Mercedes + 32.266
6. Kubica Renault + 32.824
7. Massa Ferrari + 36.635
8. Alonso Ferrari + 46.544
9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 49.029
10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.650
11. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.944
12. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:07.800
13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap
14. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
16. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
19. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
Did not finish
Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53
Senna HRT-Cosworth 47
Vettel Red Bull-Renault 40
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 34
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 33
Source: Planet-F1
